Norinchukin Bank The Increases Stock Holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. $AWK

Key Points

• Norinchukin Bank increased its stake in American Water Works by 18.3% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,918 shares, bringing its total holdings to 12,400 shares valued at approximately $1.83 million.
• Significant activity from other institutional investors includes Vanguard Group raising its position by 0.6%, Pictet Asset Management by 24.1%, and Price T Rowe Associates by a staggering 881.1% during the same period.
• American Water Works reported Q2 earnings of $1.48 per share, missing estimates by $0.05, but had a revenue of $1.28 billion, exceeding expectations and marking an 11.1% increase year-over-year.

Norinchukin Bank The grew its holdings in American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK - Free Report) by 18.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The's holdings in American Water Works were worth $1,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. CW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 10,707 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 3,643 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 881.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,704,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $546,562,000 after buying an additional 3,327,352 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 75.7% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 385,865 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $56,923,000 after buying an additional 166,199 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 44.4% in the 1st quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 293,206 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,254,000 after buying an additional 90,140 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Water Works by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,574 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. 86.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AWK shares. Barclays reduced their price target on American Water Works from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on American Water Works from $156.00 to $151.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on American Water Works from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Water Works from $139.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on American Water Works from $147.00 to $141.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Water Works currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $143.30.

American Water Works Price Performance

American Water Works stock traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $144.82. 1,195,088 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,420,239. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $142.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.53. The company has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.65. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $155.50.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 21.91%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. American Water Works has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.700-5.750 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.8275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. American Water Works's payout ratio is currently 59.64%.

Insider Activity at American Water Works

In other news, CAO Melissa K. Wikle sold 2,825 shares of American Water Works stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.28, for a total value of $404,766.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,084,916.16. The trade was a 27.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Water Works Company Profile

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.5 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.